Chapter 2: Drowsy Orange Juice

Dim space flickered now and then with scattered motes of starlight, sparse and ragged like drifting sparks.

A boy and a girl walked side by side down the street.
The streetlamps were already off, and the silence around them was frightening.
Only the beam of light in the girl’s hand illuminated the darkness-covered road ahead.

“Do you want some water?
I remember there’s a 24-hour convenience store nearby.”

Josuna suggested grabbing a bottle of juice.
Her slender, pale hand held tightly onto Dispel’s, a faint chill seeping from her palm.

Eating something sweet is supposed to help relax your mood.
He didn’t know where that saying came from, but it did seem to work.

“Okay.
Let’s go together.”

It was Dispel’s first time here, and he wasn’t familiar with the buildings in this area, so he simply stayed close to Josuna.

His nerves had been stretched taut for so long.
Standing next to Josuna gave him a strange sense of safety, soothing the tension in his heart.

The night wind brushed against him, cool and pleasant.

Josuna’s hand, and the gentle smile on her face—so comforting, so warm…

“Anyone here?”

Dispel and Josuna walked into the convenience store one after another.

The lights were on, yet unexpectedly there was no clerk in sight.
The shelves were full, as though they had been restocked only moments ago.

“That’s weird.
Where’s the clerk?”

Dispel scratched his head, baffled as he looked around the empty store.

For some reason, unease welled up inside him.

It had to be just his imagination.
Josuna was right beside him.
No matter how bold those criminals were, they wouldn’t dare act with a soon-to-be Saint standing right there.

……

“Josuna?!!”

Just as Dispel reached out to hold Josuna’s hand, he turned—and found no one beside him.

Gone?

She had been right next to him just seconds ago!

When did she disappear?

The question surged sharply into Dispel’s mind.

She had been following him when they entered the store.
How could she vanish the moment he looked away?

Where did she go?!

“Josuna!
Are you here?
Josuna!”

Dispel panicked, countless terrifying possibilities rushing through his head.

“No… no way.
She’s a Saint!”

Even if she was only a candidate, becoming a Saint was merely a matter of time.

Because the current Saint was bound to “meet an accident” sooner or later.

His figure darted through the store, appearing in almost every corner in a frantic search.

But from beginning to end, not a second person appeared.

Despair crept into Dispel’s chest.

He suddenly remembered what Sister Lan said before leaving: the criminals would come looking for him.

Could it be… them?

Maybe…

Should I just run?

Josuna was a Starlight-Rank Four mage, while he—he was just an ordinary person with zero magical talent.

If he stayed, even if something happened, he couldn’t help.
He might even drag her down.

He glanced toward the store entrance, hesitation flickering in his eyes.

Suddenly, Dispel saw a girl in a black robe standing in the darkness not far away.

Silence swallowed the surroundings.
Her pallid long hair floated faintly.

She stood in pitch-black shadow, yet Dispel could clearly see her face—as if the darkness itself parted to make way for her.

In this place where he could barely see his own hand, only she grew sharper in his vision.

As if…

She were the sun.

“So beautiful…” Dispel murmured.

Too beautiful—on a completely different level from anyone he’d ever seen, including Josuna.
Like a fairy drawn straight out of a storybook.

He was certain he had never met her.
Yet a strange sense of familiarity—mixed with a crushing ache—surged up inside him.

She was smiling.

Golden eyes flickered with emotions Dispel couldn’t decipher.

He could feel it—the smile was painful, as though she were enduring something unbearable.

“What are you doing?”

Josuna’s gentle voice sounded behind him, and he jumped.

“Josuna?
Where did you go?”

Seeing that it was truly his childhood friend behind him, Dispel’s heart finally settled.

He turned to look toward the store entrance—
and found nothing there.

Gone?

“Oh, this is your first time here, so it’s normal not to know.
The owner of this store usually isn’t here at this hour.”

“He’s usually near the storage area organizing goods for the next day, so I went to find him and buy two juices.”

“But you were just standing here staring blankly.
I thought… maybe something was on your mind, so I went on my own.”

Seeing how shaken Dispel looked, Josuna gave him an apologetic smile and explained.

As she spoke, she handed him one of the orange juices.

Dispel hesitated for a moment, then took it.

“I… was spacing out?”
He remembered clearly—he had been moving around since he entered the store.
There was no way he had just been standing still.

“Yeah.
You didn’t move at all after we walked in.”

“No… I remember.”

Outside the door… there was… something.

Dispel’s mind raced to recall the scene, but for some reason, everything in his memory evaporated—
as if he really had been daydreaming.

I swear I saw something.

What is happening?

“Relax…”
Josuna held both of Dispel’s hands, her eyes full of warmth.
“You’ve just been under too much pressure.
The orange juice is for you.
I remember you used to love this.”

He hadn’t expected Josuna to remember that.
Even he himself hadn’t had orange juice for nearly half a year…

Looking at the gentle smile warming her face, Dispel’s thoughts drifted back to a summer five years ago.

Back when his parents were still alive.
Back when Josuna wasn’t a Saint-candidate.

Those days… he missed them so much.

Dispel took a deep gulp of the orange juice.
The sour bite of citrus mixed with honeyed sweetness rushed through his entire body.
All the negative emotions piled up inside him seemed to melt away in an instant.

“Hu~ I feel much better.”

He exhaled long and slow, then turned toward Josuna.

“It’s really been so long since I tasted this.”

“Yeah~
It’s been a very, very long time~”

Josuna’s eyes glimmered with a sly sheen, though the smile on her face remained unchanged.

A ripple of confusion stirred in Dispel’s chest.
Then, in the next second, a wave of weakness swept through his entire body.

The world blurred, covered by a thin layer of mist—
and he collapsed into a soft embrace.

“It really has been so long~”

Dispel tried to struggle, but the weakness in his limbs and the drowsy heaviness in his mind overwhelmed him instantly.

He sank into unconsciousness.

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